Hip Hop History

The Early Years

1925: Earl Tucker (aka Snake Hips), a performer at the Cotton Club, invents a dance style similar to today’s hip-hop moves. He incorporates floats and slides into his dance. Similar moves would later inspire an element of hip-hop culture known as breakdancing.

1940:Tom the Great (a.k.a. Thomas Wong) uses a booming sound system to delight his audience. Wong also utilizes hip American records to steal music-lovers from competitors and local bands.

1956: Clive Campbell is born in Kingston, Jamaica. (Campbell would later become the father of what we now know as hip-hop.)

1959:Parks Commissioner Robert Moses starts building an expressway in the Bronx. Consequently, middle-class Germans, Irish, Italians, and Jewish, neighborhoods gradually disappear. Businesses relocate away from the borough only to be replaced by impoverished African-American and Hispanic families. Along with the poor came addiction, crime, and unemployment.

1962:James Brown records Live At The Apollo. Brown’s drummer Clayton Fillyau introduces a sound that is now known as the breakbeat. The breakbeat would later inspire the b-boy movement, as breakers danced to these beats at block parties.

1965: In a historic boxing bout, Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Clay) defeats Sonny Liston in the 6th round. Before the contest, however, Ali recites one of the earliest known rhymes:

Clay comes out to meet Liston
And Liston starts to retreat
If Liston goes back any further
He’ll end up in a ringside seat.
Clay swings with a left,
Clay swings with a right,
Look at young Cassius
Carry the fight.
Liston keeps backing
But there’s not enough room
It’s a matter of time…

1967: Clive Campbell migrates to the United States at the age of 11. Because of his imposing size, kids at Alfred E. Smith High School nickname him Hercules. He would later become a graf writer and change his name to Kool Herc.

1968: A gang named Savage Seven would hit the streets of the East Bronx. Savage Seven later changes its name to Black Spades, before eventually becoming an organization known as the Zulu Nation.

1969:James Brown records two songs that would further influence the drum programming in today’s rap music – “Sex Machines” with John Starks playing drums and “Funky Drummer” with Clyde Stubblefield on the drums.

1970: DJ U-Roy invades Jamaican pop charts with three top ten songs using a style known as toasting. The Last Poets release their self-titled debut album on Douglas Records combining jazz instrumentations with heartfelt spoken word. (The Last Poets would later appear on Common’s 2005 rap anthem, “The Corner.”)

1971:Aretha Franklin records a well-known b-boy song “Rock Steady.” The Rock Steady crew would go on to rule in the world of break-dancing, with members all across the globe.

1972: The Black Messengers (a group that staged performances for The Black Panthers and rallies relating to black power movement) feature on The Gong Show.
However, they are only allowed to perform under the alias “Mechanical Devices,” because of their controversial name.

1973: DJ Kool Herc deejays his first block party (his sister’s birthday) at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, Bronx, NY. Herc would often buy two copies of a record and stretch the break parts by using two turntables and mixing in both records before the break ends.

The Zulu Nation is officially formed by a student of Stevenson High school named Kevin Donovan. Donovan later changed his name to Afrika Bambaataa Aasim in honor of an ancient Zulu chief.

1974:After seeing DJ Kool Herc perform at block parties, Grandmaster Caz, Grandmaster Flash, and Afrika Bambaataa start playing at parties all over the Bronx neighborhoods. Around this time, DJ/MC/Crowd Pleaser Lovebug Starski starts referring to this culture as“hip-hop.”

1975:

Herc is hired as a DJ at the Hevalo Club.

He later gets Coke La Rock to utter crowd-pleasing rhymes at parties (e.g.”DJ Riz is in the house and he’ll turn it out without a doubt”). Coke La Rock and Clark Kent form the first emcee team known as Kool Herc & The Herculoids.

DJ Grand Wizard Theodore accidentally invents ‘the scratch.’ While trying to hold a spinning record in place in order to listen to his mom, who was yelling at him, Grand Wizard accidentally caused the record to produce the “shigi-shigi” sound that is now known as the scratch. Scratch is the crux of modern deejaying.

1976: DJ Afrika Bambaataa performs at the Bronx River Center. Bambaataa’s first battle against Disco King Mario sparks off the DJ battling that is now embedded in the culture.

1977:

The Rock Steady Crew (the most respected b-boy crew in history) is formed by the original four members: JoJo, Jimmy Dee, Easy Mike, and P-Body.

DJ Kool Herc is nearly stabbed to death at one of his parties. Although the assault placed a permanent dent on Herc’s career, Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, Disco Wiz (the first Latino DJ), and Disco King Mario kept performing around town.

1978:

Kurtis Blow, who was being managed by Russell Simmons, decides to hire Simmons’ brother Run, as his DJ.

Run was so-called because he could cut so fast between two turntables.

Kurtis would later become the first rapper to be signed to a major record deal.

Music industry coins the term “rap music” and shifts its focus toward emcees.

Grandmaster Caz (aka Cassanova Fly) and Bambaataa engage in a battle at the Police Athletic League.

Mr. Magic’s ‘Rap Attack’ becomes the first hip-hop radio show on WHBI.

1980:

Afrika Bambaata and the Zulu Nation release their first 12″ called Zulu Nation Throwdown Pt. 1 on Paul Winley Records.

Kurtis Blow, the first rapper to appear on national television (Soul Train), releases “The Breaks” on Mercury Records. The record goes on to sell more than a million copies. Hip-hop gradually evolves into big business.

1983:

Ice T helps pioneer gangsta rap in the west coast with his rapcore singles “Body Rock” and “Killers.”

Grand Master Flash and Melle Mel (Furious 5) record the anti-cocaine single “White Lines (Don’t Do It),” which becomes a rap hit.

Grandmaster Flash later sues Sugarhill Records for $5 million in royalties. The dispute causes the group to break up, signaling the looming danger of corporate control in hip-hop.

Run DMC releases “It’s Like That” b/w “Sucker MC’s.”

1984

Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin team up to launch one of the most important record labels ever, Def Jam Records. Def Jam releases its first record, “It’s Yours” by T La Rock, followed by LL Cool J’s “I Need A Beat.”

Hip-hop discovers that touring is a great way to generate income, as the Fresh Fest concert featuring Whodini, Kurtis Blow, Fat Boys, and Run DMC, reels in $3.5 million for 27 dates.

2 Pac is robbed and shot 5 times in a New York recording studio. He recovers from the shooting. Pac is later sentenced to 8 months in prison.

1995

2 Pac signs a deal with Death Row Records after Suge Knight posts a $1.4 million bail.

Eric Wright (Eazy-E of N.W.A) dies of AIDS on March 20th at the age of 31.

1996

The Score, a fusion of conscious lyrics with reggae-tinged soulsonics, becomes The Fugees’ biggest album. The album debuts at No.1 and grabs two Grammys, thus, breathing a new life into socially aware hip-hop.

The Music of Black Origin (MOBO) Awards are launched in the U.K. The Fugees walk away with two trophies.

24-year old Snoop Dogg and his bodyguard McKinley Lee are acquitted of the murder of Philip Woldemariam, a 20-year-old Ethiopian immigrant gunned down in August 1993.

On September 7th, Tupac Shakur is fatally wounded after sustaining multiple gunshots as he rode in a car driven by Death Row Records CEO Marion “Suge” Knight near the Las Vegas strip. Tupac died 5 days later. His death rekindled the debate on whether rap promotes violence or just reflects the ugly side of the streets.

1997

The Notorious B.I.G. (born Christopher Wallace), is shot and killed March 9, after a party at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Like Pac’s murder, Biggie’s death is still an unsolved mystery.

Missy Misdemeanor Elliott redefines hip-hop and R & B with her first album, Supa Dupa Fly. Having broken barriers as a successful female producer, Missy would go on to become the highest selling female rapper of all time.

Parent company Interscope Records sells its interest in Death Row Records and severes ties with the label.

Chicago MC Juice defeats Eminem on his way to winning the year’s Scribble Jam competition. (Scribble Jam is the largest showcase of underground hip-hop in the United States.)

1999

Production duo The Neptunes (Chad Hugo & Pharrell Williams) dominate the airwave with a string of radio hits, including Kelis’ “Caught Out There,” ODB’s “Got Your Money,” Noreaga’s “Oh No,” and Mase’s “One Big Fiesta.” Their infectious, bling-tinged sound would later become an unofficial requisite on hip-hop albums.

Dr. Dre puts the west coast back on the spotlight with his comeback LP 2001.

2000

Dr. Dre files a lawsuit against MP3-swapping firm Napster.

Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney holds the first Hip-Hop Powershop summit to address the various political, economic, and social issues affecting the youth.

Eminem, through the release of his well received second album Marshall Mathers LP, solidifies his place as rap’s future great. The title sells 1.76 million copies in its first week and later scores two Grammys for the rapper.

2001

Puff Daddy reveals in an MTV interview that he will now be known as P. Diddy.

Eminem pleads guilty to one of two felony charges from an incident in 2000 when he pistol-whipped a man caught kissing wife Kim Mathers.

On the heels of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York, two of the city’s most revered rappers Jay-Z and Nas are in a different New York state of mind. After years of subliminal sniping, they finally take the gloves off and engage in a highly controversial lyrical face-off.

As votes are being tallied, Jay rushes to Hot 97 and offers an apology for the kiss-and-tell lyrics. His apology fails to deny Nas an outstanding victory. Regardless, fans would forever debate the battle.

2002

DJ Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC is shot and killed in a Queens studio on October 30. No one has been convicted of his murder.

The rapping member of TLC, Lisa “Left-Eye” Lopes, dies in a car crash while traveling with seven other people.

Malik B is booted from The Roots following a drug use problem.

2003

Eminem becomes the new focus of a debate on hip-hop and racism after some unidentified friends of the rapper submitted a tape of him using the N-word and making several derogatory remarks about the African-American community.

Sample lyrics from the Eminem tape: “Black girls are b****es/ That’s why I’ma tell ya you better pull up your britches/’Cause all that cash is making your a** drag. On another song, he rhymes: “Black girls and white girls just don’t mix/Because Black girls are dumb and white girls are good chicks.”

The Source uses the tape to renew their anti-Eminem campaign, even releasing a CD version of the “racist tape.” In response, Eminem apologizes publicly and claims the rap was done out of teen angst following a break-up with a black girlfriend. “I did and said a lot of stupid s**t when I was a kid, but that’s part of growing up,” said Eminem in a statement. “The tape of me rapping 15 years ago as a teenager that was recently put out by The Source in no way represents who I was then or who I am today.”

Federal investigators raid the New York offices of Murder Inc., the record label home of Ja Rule and Ashanti, as part of an ongoing investigation into label head Irv Gotti. Authorities were looking into allegations of money laundering and an alleged financial link between Gotti and a New York drug gang called the “Supreme Team.”

ODB, fresh out of jail, signs to Roc-A-Fella Records and changes his name to Dirt McGirt.

2004

In the middle of the 2004 Vibe Awards ceremony, a man named Jimmy James Johnson approaches rap legend Dr. Dre, who was preparing to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award, and punches him in the face. A full-on brawl ensues during which Johnson gets stabbed.

After reviewing tape of the melee, authorities identify the stabber as G-Unit rapper Young Buck, a member of Dr. Dre’s entourage. Suge Knight, who also crashed the event, later denies allegations that he had promised Johnson $5000 to assault Dr. Dre.

P.Diddy’s “Citizen Change” campaign adopts the slogan ‘Vote or Die’ in a bid to convince young people to vote in November’s U.S. Presidential elections.

Wu-Tang member ODB dies inside a recording studio two days before his 36th birthday.

2005

The “Miss Jones Morning Show” crew on Hot 97 FM sparks outrage by playing the “Tsunami Song,” a racist parody of “We Are the World” that ridicules victims of the South Asian tidal wave that killed almost 300,000 people. The “Miss Jones” is temporarily yanked off the air.

Jay-Z and Nas end their long-running feud at the former’s Power 105.1 concert in New York.

A 24-year-old Compton, CA native identified as Kevin Reed is hospitalized after a shooting outside the Hot 97 offices, as 50 Cent was making an appearance at the radio station to announce that The Game had been booted from G-Unit. The Game, who had appeared on Hot 97 earlier that evening, reportedly returned to the station with an undisclosed number of men and was denied entrance into the building.

Jay-Z Dame Dash, and Kareem “Biggs” Burke sell off the remaining 50% stake of Roc-A-Fella Records to Universal’s Island Def Jam for less than $10 million and go their separate ways.

Rick Ross loses a Reebok endorsement over a rapey line on Rocko’s “U.O.E.N.O.”

Kanye West projects his single “New Slaves” on 66 buildings across the world.

Kendrick Lamar calls out a bunch of rappers on “Control.” Rappers fire back.

2014

Dr. Dre sued former associate Suge Knight for $3 Million due to unpaid royalties.

50 Cent officially left Shady Records, Aftermath, and Interscope. He announced that he was now signed to Capitol Records.

Louisiana legend Lil Boosie was released from State Penitentiary after being held on drug charges.

Freddie Gibbs attacks former boss Young Jeezy on a song titled “Real,” off Pinata, his album with producer Madlib.

Jay Z responds to a perceived insult by Drake via the song “We Made It.” Jay raps: “Sorry Mrs. Drizzy for so much art talk / Silly me, rappin’ ’bout shit that I really bought / While these rappers rap about guns that they ain’t shot / And a bunch of other silly shit that they ain’t got.”

Diddy changed his name back to Puff Daddy.

Ray Benzino, Source former co-founder, was shot several times during his mother’s funeral, begging the question, “Who would want a man dead so badly that he attacks said man at his mom’s funeral?” Cold world.

Eminem became the first rapper to headline Wembley Stadium, which holds up to 90,000 people.